Day of the Idea

Day of the Idea is a surreal turn-based JRPG starring a boy who has psychic powers. The boy is being researched and experimented on by scientists with interest in these powers. He escapes from the laboratory after awakening his psychokinetic powers and killing most of the people in the lab. He then sets out to find out more about his powers and gets involved in a deeper plot. His quest takes him across a dystopian world, picking up an eclectic group of allies along the way.

The equipment system in Idea no Hi is different from most RPGs with players equipping articles of clothing as the armor in the game, giving players many different types of clothing to equip such as headgear, necklaces, undershirts, shirts, pants, underwear, gloves, and shoes. Certain types of clothing can also boost elemental resistances. When equipped with a certain theme of clothing, the character sprites may change to reflect that. Characters can also be cross-dressed and, at one point in the game, the player actually needs to cross-dress the main character to sneak into a town inhabited by women only.

Battles are turn based in a first person perspective similar to Dragon Quest. In the bottom of the screen are a hand drawn portraits of the players party which change their facial expressions with each action taken. The enemy sprites in-battle are also large and detailed, having unique animations for each of their attacks. The enemy encounters are random when travelling on the world map while in dungeons, they are visible and dash towards the player once he is in their sight.

Up to four characters participate in battles with a fifth slot reserved for pets. The pet can participate in battles, however, it can't be controlled by the player. Different pets can be recruited throughout the game, but, unlike the party, they can't level up, giving players a good reason to switch to a new pet once it is recruited.